National Guardsmen supporting the medical response to the coronavirus are running short on personal protective equipment, resulting in the delayed opening of COVID-19 virus testing sites in some areas, said the National Guard bureau chief, Gen. Joseph Lengyel, at a Pentagon press briefing.
“There have been cases where they have said they have to delay the opening of the sites until they have the PPE,” Lengyel said Wednesday, noting that the demand for new testing sites has not met the distribution capacity of limited PPE.
“Nobody’s doing any testing right now without the appropriate PPE,” he clarified, though he noted that 349 guardsmen, both activated and not yet activated, have been diagnosed with the COVID-19 virus. On March 28, a nonactivated member of the New Jersey National Guard became the first service member to die of the virus.
Lengyel could not distinguish how many guard members have been infected while in the line of duty providing medical support. He cited the Florida National Guard as one place where active guardsmen have come down with the virus.
The guard chief admitted that guard members are more deliberate with scarce PPE in response to the shortage.
“We’re tracking it very, very closely,” he said. “People are being smart with their PPE, and if they’re able to reuse a mask, they’re probably husbanding them and reusing them as they can.”
Brig. Gen. Keith Waddell, adjunct general for the Louisiana Guard, said National Guard soldiers and airmen have already tested more than 11,000 symptomatic Louisianans at seven testing sites in his state, and more than 70 alternative care facilities have been assessed by the Army Corps of Engineers.
“Disasters are not new to us, but like each disaster, this one is unique,” he said of a state ravaged by hurricanes in recent years.
In New Orleans, a dual-status command incorporates guard and active-duty service members from a command center at the Morial Convention Center, which is also serving as an alternative medical facility for coronavirus patients.
Lengyel said 28,400 guardsmen have been activated across the country, with 3 in 4 helping directly with the medical response, including running testing centers or distributing medical supplies.
The chief expected that number to continue to rise at a rate of 1,000 per day as the need arises. He said his team is also beginning planning for how to share resources across states as affected areas reach their apex of infections and flatten their growth curve.
“As this event moves around the country, while we aren’t sure exactly what’s going to happen, we anticipate that people will be able to share supplies and perhaps some staff as well,” he said.
Lengyel said that planning has included contemplating a simultaneous hurricane response during a coronavirus outbreak, with hurricane season beginning June 1.
“We, in fact, are looking at the implications of what it might be like to have a hurricane response in a COVID environment,” he said. “Obviously, we’re hopeful that this begins to lull at some point.”
